He had inherited the command of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan from his brother, but he is said to have held subsequent meetings with Western diplomats, acting on behalf of the British, to defect with 2,000 of his men. It was these talks, which the government of Hamid Karzai insisted were unauthorised, that led to the expulsion of Michael Semple, the acting head of the European Union mission to Afghanistan (who has worked as a British diplomat in Pakistan), and Mervyn Patterson, a senior UN official.

Just before the diplomats were thrown out, a Taliban spokesman said that Dadullah had been dismissed from his command for 'disobeying orders' and …

Maan News Agency: "Bethlehem – Ma'an - US democratic candidate Barak Obama said during a press conference on Wednesday in Sderot, a city in the south of Israel, that he does not support the idea of East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Obama made it clear that Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and that he would not see the city divided. He added that this position needed to be fixed through negotiations with the Palestinians.

Recent years have seen Obama's position on Israel/Palestine shift dramatically towards the Israeli side. He previously stated that the issue of Jerusalem should be on the table of any peace negotiation, but after criticism of his 'naïve' stance, Obama dropped this position.

The press conference was held with Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who said, 'Israel and the USA have a common understanding of what must happen in the region.'

Secret memo OK'd harsh CIA tactics - Security- msnbc.com: "WASHINGTON - The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed 'in good faith' that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will would not cause 'prolonged mental harm.'

That heavily censored memo, released Thursday, approved the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques method by method, but warned that if the circumstances changed, interrogators could be running afoul of anti-torture laws."

Imprisonment By Executive Order: "Judges of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the president can legally, by simply labeling an individual an “enemy combatant,” imprison anyone, citizen or not, without due process for months, years, decades — or indefinitely.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier three-judge panel’s decision which ruled that the government lacked the power to detain Ali al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar legally in the United States on a student visa, who had been charged with credit card fraud and making false statements as part of the 9/11 investigation. Keep in mind the Bush administration is not accusing al-Marri of having any connections to al-Qaeda or the Taliban or fighting against U.S. forces. He is accused of being involved in an unproven terrorist plot, which he denies."

Free Iraq: In memory of Dalal Al-Mughrabi .... في ذكرى البطلة دلال المغربي: "''Point your guns in only one direction- your enemy - Israel,' exhorted Dalal Al Mughrabi in her final wish just before she laid down her life for Palestine.Dalal, a Palestinian fighter who became a legend for many years, led a group of 12 fighters in one of the most talked about attacks against Israeli forces 30 years ago.This week, the body of Dalal and her comrades, buried in an anonymous Israeli graveyard, will be handed over to Hezbollah as part of a prisoners and bodies exchange deal with Israel.On March 11, 1978, Dalal along with her group of fighters managed to infiltrate the Lebanese-Israeli border to the coastal plain near Tel Aviv using rubber dinghy boats.She and her comrades destroyed the boats the moment they reached the coast. It was a one-way trip, as they had returned home to stay .Nine-hour battleThey hijacked an Israeli military bus and took its passengers, some three dozen…

Ethiopia: 'Perfect Storm Brewing' - Yahoo! News UKPhotojournalist Nick Danziger has travelled to Ethiopia with Oxfam to highlight what is happening in the famine-ravaged country.Speaking to Sky News he said nothing could have prepared him for the devastation that would greet him.

"Oxfam briefed me on what I might face in terms of malnourished children and the drought which has affected this part of Ethiopia but actually on the ground, it is far worse than I ever could have possibly imagined," he explained.

"To be confronted with grown-ups, adults, women literally starving to death... it was devastating.

"I just find it totally unacceptable that in this world of plenty there is not enough food and water for people on the brink of starvation."

He said most of the people were struggling after losing their livestock and coupled with the dramatic increases in food prices were reduced to eating animal feed.

About Me

I am concerned with the direction the US is taking. I have lived in the US since 1990 and never afraid as much since the September, 2001 attack by terror plot (government, group ... don't know the fact) on New York and the pentagon. Many innocent people died that day, but, the response was the most foolish American policy ever. Civil liberty curbed, detention without trial became a norm, torture used, dissent voices shot down. Now since 2003, the US is engaging in unlawful war where bound to be losing. My voice may not count but I see no future for American kids who are going to find bankrupt country some day. The reversal policy is urgent.